1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an adjustable paper feed tray suitable for use in a desktop-size printing machine.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Generally, commercially available electrophotographic desk-top printers, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,553,528 which are available at low cost are designed to output letter size pages. Of course, these printers have been used to make documents much smaller than a full-page size, such as, from about one-third to one-half the size of a full page. For example, some insurance applications require sending special 8 inch.times.7 inch mailer forms through a printer. As shown in FIG. 1, a prerequisite for feeding forms of this type from a full ream paper tray configuration which pivots at one end to a set of feed rollers or a feedhead at the other through the printer is to correctly stage a stack of these small preprinted forms by moving the backstop 52 of paper tray 18 to the right. However, since the tray is pivoted at pivot point 12, as paper tray 18 empties, backstop 52 will rotate up into the paper tray cavity and contact a frame member 53 thereby making the feeder inoperative for further feeding because the normal force supplied by spring 57 has been relieved between roller 56 and mailer forms 11. A conventional solution, as shown in FIG. 2, is to lower the top edge of a backstop 15 in order to clear the top of the tray. But, the problem with this solution is that lowering the top of the backstop reduces proportionately the paper supply stack height which in turn diminishes operator satisfaction since the operator is forced to replenish the paper supply twice as frequently. Therefore, the need remains for a simple device that facilitates the loading of a full ream of shorter than standard sized paper without encountering the above-mentioned problems.